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IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN ADAM AND ME? |
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Am I a sinner because I sin, or
do I sin because I am a sinner? How would you answer? This is really a question about the
relationship between Adam and the rest of humanity. Some people say that we are born innocent and that we become
sinners when we sin. On this view,
Adam's sin has nothing at all to do with you or me. Also on this view, it is possible, at least in theory, for a
person to never sin – for example, a baby who dies or is killed prior to
birth. Being without sin, such a
person would have no need of Christ or His sacrifice. This view finds no support in
Scripture. On the other hand, many
say that we are born sinners and that everything we do reflects our tendency
toward sin. On this view, there is a
real connection between Adam's sin and the rest of humanity. Adam's sin is said to be
"imputed" to his descendants. To be "imputed" means to be
credited to the account of, as in "Abraham believed God and it was credited
– [it was imputed, it was counted] – to him as righteousness." According to this view, God sees each
person as guilty on account of Adam's sin. In God's eyes, the human race is an organic whole, with Adam
being the head, and his descendants being the body. Because Adam was the head of the human race,
both his sin (rebellion) and its punishment (death) are passed on to all of
us. Adam then, is seen by God to be
humanity's representative. The second view is the biblical
view. Because we are born sinners we cannot avoid sinning; and because we sin
we are revealed to be sinners. The
Scripture teaches that there is an actual connection between Adam and the
rest of humanity. Adam was in fact
our representative in sin (Isa 43:27). This concept of representation becomes
very important when we consider how we are saved "in Christ" (something
we will look at in more detail later).
When Christ freed us from sin, He freed us from (1) the consequences
of Adam's sin (i.e. our imputed guilt, and our actual tendency to rebel); and
(2) the actual sins that we actually commit due to our inherited tendency
toward sin. From these things, Christ
has made us truly free (John 8:36). Oh,
how "blessed is the man whose sin the LORD will never count against
him" (Ps 32:2, Rom 4:8)! (Also see
Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:21-49; |
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